Mark Hughes cites the presence of new-sgning Vincent Kompany as proof that
City are not in financial dire straits.

Perhaps it was symbolic. One of Denis Healey’s favourite stories is of him delivering a joint address with Tony Benn during the Labour Party’s 1980s nadir while, behind them, the party banners collapsed to the floor.

The City manager, sitting alongside his latest signing, the Hamburg defender Vincent Kompany, smiled and carried on. He cited the presence of the 22-year-old Belgian as proof that City are not the crippled financial ruin that has been portrayed in the light of owner Thaksin Shinawatra’s flight from corruption charges in Thailand.

“A lot of people seem to want to accentuate the negative around this club,” he said. “But that will change when we start winning games and we can concentrate on the football.

“I keep telling people there is no 'financial situation’ with the club,” said Hughes, who this week enjoyed what he described as an “excellent and very positive” dinner with Thaksin.

“Finance is available. We keep telling people there is no problem and this – pointing to Kompany – is the proof.

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“He was off my radar when I was at Blackburn because he was too expensive. We can make the investment and there will be more signings to come.”

Kompany is likely to feature as a defensive midfielder, which may suggest that Dietmar Hamann’s days at Eastlands are numbered. Hughes is believed to be interested in recruiting the Fluminese midfielder, Thiago Neves, who was part of Brazil’s Olympic squad.

Neves, 23, had the distinction of scoring a hat-trick in the South American version of the Champions League final, the Copa Libertadores, while still finishing on the losing side. Some might think this an excellent introduction to life at City.

Yesterday, Hughes also faced questions from Mexican television about the future of Nery Castillo, who has less than five months of his loan agreement from Shakhtar Donetsk remaining, who has yet to score in the Premier League and has been linked to a move to Spain.

They also wanted to know why Hughes had apparently criticised the fitness of the team he inherited from Sven-Goran Eriksson, who is now manager of Mexico.

“As a manager, I do not criticise my predecessor,” Hughes said. “That happened to me earlier in my managerial career and I found it upsetting.

“What I will say is that I have a different way of training with a different intensity and it will take the players time to get used to that.”